Classification and pathogenesis of pancreatitis.

Full functional and morphologic restitution of the pancreas is possible after an attack of acute pancreatitis if the initiating agent or process is removed, whereas chronic pancreatitis is associated with irreversible changes. Most attacks of acute pancreatitis are related to biliary tract stone disease, and it is likely that the offending stone causes obstruction of the pancreatic duct with ductal hypertension. Some recent experimental observations suggest that acute pancreatitis may involve intra-acinar cell activation of digestive enzymes by lysosomal hydrolases. Most patients with chronic pancreatitis develop their disease after many years of ethanol abuse, but the events underlying the pathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis are not known.